Trump-Kim meeting will happen only if N Korea fulfills promises: WH

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March 13, 2018 08:48

The meeting between United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would go as planned if Pyongyang sticks to the promises it made, particularly regarding missiles and nuclear test, the White House said on Monday.

Last week, a South Korean delegation, led by its national security advisor, informed Trump that Kim Jon-un has invited him for a meeting. The invitation, conveyed to orally, was accepted by Trump, a decision that took the world by surprise.

"We fully expect that it (the meeting) will (take place). The offer was made and we've accepted. North Korea made several promises and we hope that they would stick to those promises and, if so, the meeting will go on as planned," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at her daily news conference.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is continuing to prepare on a number of levels for the meeting.

"Most of that is an inter-administration, interagency process and I'm not going to get ahead of any of the details of the where, the when, or any of that here today," she said, responding to a series of questions on the meeting between the two leaders.

Sanders said that the maximum pressure campaign on North Korea is working.

"We know that they have responded due to that, and they have pushed this message through the South Koreans to us. We have accepted their invitation on the three promises that they made, and were going to move forward in this process," she said.

Meanwhile, in New York, US' National Security Advisor HR McMaster and US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, briefed members of the UN Security Council on developments related to North Korea. -- PTI